For Nihari Alahari, engineering final year student, and Y. Kalyan Kumar, degree final year student, wearing Indian Army uniform is their ultimate dream. And to get an entry into the armed forces they have chosen the NCC route.
Like Nihari and Kalyan, there are about 600 cadets at the annual combined NCC camp that is being held at Andhra University, for whom NCC is the route to realise their dream of joining the armed forces.
About 325 boys and 275 girls from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts are attending the camp.
Though they may look young, ambience in the camp is absolutely in tune with any camp of the armed forces. Wearing uniform of the wing that they belong to, the students are being trained in all activities that regular personnel from any of the three wings of the armed forces have to take up.
Individual and group tasks such as rope climbing, rappelling and battle techniques are being taught to the cadets, said Camp Commandant Lt Col. V.S. Srinivas.
The day begins with one-hour of yoga and ends with one-hour of Swachh Bharat programme for the cadets.
Weapon training is imparted to all cadets. Theoretically they are taught how to use weapons such as SLR and LMG and practically they are made to fire .22 rifle at the firing range in Yendada, said NCC Captain Brahmananda Reddy.
These apart, disaster management, first aid, field craft, battle craft and other tasks such as map reading, signals and semaphore are being taught depending on the wing they are enrolled. “Air wing cadets will also be exposed to glider flying and naval cadets will be exposed to ships,” said Lt. Col. Srinivas.
NCC is the stepping stone for a career in the armed forces. A ‘C’ certificate holder can directly gain into the SSB (Services Selection Board) without writing the UPSC entrance examination through the NCC special entry scheme.
“If they clear the SSB, one can get into any of the three wings of the armed forces of their choice. This apart, technical students such as engineers can get into the armed forces through the university entry scheme with the help of the ‘C’ certificate’, said Lt. Col. Srinivas.
NCC Group headquarters here has about five army units, including two naval and one air force units, and there are about 13,000 cadets in both junior and senior wings.
